Tag Archives: Georgia (country)

The Hill reports: Georgia President Salome Zourabichvili is on a mission in Washington to build support for her country as a key bulwark in case Russia seeks to expand its aggression beyond Ukraine. In an interview with The Hill, Zourabichvili said that she believes Moscow doesn’t have the capacity to move its military to launch another operation, but that “it …

Reuters reports: The State Department on Tuesday called for calm in the republic of Georgia after the death of a cameraman beaten up during violence against LGBT activists and said those who attacked peaceful protesters and journalists should be prosecuted. State Department spokesman Ned Price told a regular news briefing that Washington was following the situation in Georgia and was …

The EU Observer reports: Just weeks before Tbilisi Pride the ultra-conservative Georgian activist, Levan Vasadze, who is affiliated with the group that organised the counter-protests, held a press conference at the Tbilisi Marriott Hotel. Seated next to Vasadze as he announced his intention to enter Georgian politics was the American anti-LGBT activist Brian Brown. The moment encapsulated how even as …

The Associated Press reports: Several thousand people protested in front of the Georgian parliament on Sunday evening, demanding that the ex-Soviet nation’s prime minister resign over the death of a journalist who was attacked and beaten by anti-LGBT protesters. Cameraman Alexander Lashkarava was found dead in his home by his mother earlier Sunday, according to the TV Pirveli channel he …

Euronews reports: LGBT activists in Georgia have cancelled a Pride march in the capital Tbilisi after violent clashes ahead of the parade. Violent groups stormed and ransacked the office of gay rights campaigners on Monday, Georgian authorities confirmed. Activists posted photos and videos of people breaking into the premises and some journalists had reported that their equipment was broken in …

Reuters reports: Police in Georgia said on Saturday they had arrested more than 25 people after ultra-nationalist protesters attempting to derail the premiere of an award-winning movie about gay love clashed with security forces. A few hundred demonstrators blocked the road outside a cinema in the capital’s city center on Friday ahead of the first screening of “And Then We …

Democracy & Freedom Watch reports: President Giorgi Margvelashvili made it clear Tuesday evening that he does not support the proposed referendum about amending the Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The reason, Margvelashvili said at a briefing, is that there is already a proper definition of marriage in the Constitution. With two hundred …

The Guardian reports: A vegan cafe in the centre of Tbilisi was shocked to find itself the subject of far-right ire after a group arrived and threw meat on patrons’ plates, leading to a public brawl. Customers said a group entered the cafe wearing sausages around their necks and carrying slabs of meat on skewers, before attacking customers and staff. …

After several dozen increasingly desperate money begs since Obergefell, we knew that Brian Brown was going to have to find a new home for his open hatred of LGBT people. And since Brown has already worked with the viciously anti-LGBT World Congress of Families, today’s news comes as no surprise. Via press release: Brown was elected at the recent World …

You may recall that in May 2013 a mob of 20,000 rioters attacked a small gay rights rally in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi. The attackers were led by priests from the Orthodox Church, which doesn’t want a repeat situation after a man this week filed a same-sex marriage lawsuit. Eurasianet reports: In a first for the Caucasus, a Georgian man …

Opera Australia has fired Georgian soprano Tamar Iveri after days of controversy over anti-gay comments she made about a pride parade in her home country. In a statement released on Monday, the company said Iveri would not be performing in its Sydney production of Otello in July and August. “Opera Australia has agreed with Tamar Iveri, to immediately release her …

The Associated Press: “Tensions gripping Ukraine spilled over into Georgia on Wednesday when a fight erupted in parliament over plans to support the Ukrainian opposition.”

As I reported over the weekend, on Friday an anti-gay mob of 20,000 rioters chased 50 gay rights activists through the streets of Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi.  Today the New York Times tracks the government’s non-response. Some of the priests leading the rock-throwing throngs who stormed past police cordons could be seen participating in the melee; one repeatedly slammed a …

“The right to gather peacefully and to freely express one’s opinion is fundamental to our democracy. Every Georgian citizen benefits fully and equally from this right. Acts of violence, discrimination and restriction of the rights of others will not be tolerated, and any perpetrators of such acts will be dealt with according to the law.” – Georgia Prime Minister Bidzina …

Led by priests from the Orthodox Church, thousands of anti-gay protesters forced the cancellation of a gay pride rally today in Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi. Police in Tbilisi guarded several dozen gay activists and bused them out of the city center shortly after they arrived at the gathering. Those occupying the street held posters reading “We don’t need Sodom and …

Russia Today reports that police in Georgia claim to have exposed a government-run spy ring that used gay men to prey on celebrities who were then blackmailed into supporting the regime. The prosecutors claim the former head of the Military Police, Legis Kardava, instructed some high-placed officials of his agency to gather information on homosexual men. Specially selected gay agents …

Anri Jokhadze competed to represent Georgia at Eurovision 2009 by dressing up as a “gay disco Stalin” with backup dancing “Sovietskas.” Very Producers. I rather like this. Hurray for Eurovision cheese.

Complete with unnecessary rap interlude.

The nation of Georgia has seen several demonstrations and assaults over the publication of a book by a 20 year-old author which mocks the Orthodox Church and depicts several gay sexual encounters. Via the Moscow Times: The catalyst for the dispute was a provocative new book satirizing the church, the most respected institution in Georgia. Its title is an irreverent …

Georgian LGBT organization The Inclusive Foundation reports that numerous members were detained by the police in a raid that occurred last week in Tbilisi. On December 15 2009 the office of the Inclusive Foundation, a well known Georgian LGBT organisation, was raided by the police. They did not wear police uniforms, did not provide a search warrant, did not inform …